Darkness, Shadows and Memories
by rock-star-vt
Summary: Two years after the events of the game, darkness begins to creep into the world as a new force of evil emerges. Kairi decides to look for Sora, but what she finds are the four Unknowns and more questions than answers.
1. Preview

Prologue

Hey, what's up?

Thanks for clicking the little link that brings you over to this story. I appreciate it. My ID name is Rockstar and I will be giving you a little tour of the story. If you look to your left, you will see a bunch of lawyers from Square-Enix and Disney. You can wave at them if you want. I'm just going to get on my loudspeaker and say "I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or any of its characters, or places." See, that makes them happy.

This is a prologue for the story Darkness, Shadows, and Memories. Just so you know, this takes place two years after the game and the ending events. But just to clear out a couple of things, I'm going to go ahead and give a little breakdown.

This is not a "high school fic." Sora, Kairi, Riku, et al. are not sitting in some classroom somewhere involved with some cheesy humor, bad grammar, misspelling, or mellow dramatic and less-than-intelligent plotlines. This, also, is not a character insertion, you won't find a version of me in Kingdom Hearts kicking ass and taking names and putting the main characters in the background.

So I guess this already makes this story a bit different than 90 of the fanfics out there, not to mention that this is a dark story. Yes, a dark Kingdom Hearts story. One that involves destruction, war, darkness, and yes, even death. Saying this, it's not an OOC fic either or a KH crew goes to World War Two kind of thing.

Basically, this is a story centered on Kairi and how she grows up, and her own search for Sora. This story involves all of the screenshots and trailers that have been released since then. That means, that the four unknowns are going to play a role (a HUGE role actually) and the blonde haired kid is a pivotal part to everything. I even put the supposed villain (the guy with red hair) in here.

Probably the biggest difference from the first game to this fic that you need to know about is that instead of going into various Disney worlds, I'm plunging our characters into the Final Fantasy realm, from VI up to X.

Sounds like something for you? Interested in a story that doesn't involve the word "high school," in the summary? Then by all means click the little arrow that proceeds to chapter one. Thank you and enjoy the ride!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Day One

A simple maintenance man named Chuck cursed in the darkness and rain.

"Why in the hell am I up here at three in the morning," he muttered as he clipped some red wires in a breaker box on the roof of a tall building in the city of Midgar. His only answer was the steady fall of rain that pelted off of his parka. "They don't pay me enough to get woken up in the middle of the night and come out here," he spat, rubbing his eyes as water dropped in them. "Being on a roof in Midgar in the middle of a rainstorm is…" Suddenly he quit muttering when he heard another noise, somewhere in the direction of cooling vents. He tensed his body and arced his head so he could hear if anything out here moved.

"Damn birds," he said, wiping the rain from the stubble on his chin.

It was then that another noise drifted down to him, one that was distinctively not a noise made by a bird. In fact, to Chuck it sounded as if it came from a human who was very close. The maintenance man clicked his flashlight off and took a few tentative steps towards the cooling vents. To his surprise, he was able to hear voices from nearby.

"Who in the hell is way up here in a rainstorm?" he whispered to himself. He then swallowed dryly and crept a few more steps towards the vents. Lightning touched down close by and thunder suddenly rolled overhead. After giving his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the lightning strike, he slowly peered around the corner of the large vents. He then gasped at what he saw.

Four figures, dressed completely in black were staring out at the city streets below them. They seemed to be completely oblivious to the rain as drops ricocheted off of their heavy trench coats.

The maintenance man squinted his eyes as he saw one of the black-clad figures creep very closely to the edge of the tall building. His eyes looked down at the mixture of rain, barren streets, and neon lighting. The world below them seemed desolate and empty in the middle of the night.

"How do we know they're in this world?" the one of the men in heavy trench coats then asked his comrades, his shadowed eyes flickering back and forth on the gloomy city streets below.

"We don't," Chuck heard one of the four answered him.

"We know they pass through here at some point soon," a feminine voice emitted from a black trench coated figure that was now walking to the edge herself. "That much is for certain, right?" The man hiding behind the vents then realized that this one was female, probably the only one in the group, by the looks of things.

The remaining three silently nodded their heads in agreement. Chuck then drew his eyes over to the solitary person standing off to the side. He had shoulder length hair that was completely silver. However, the thing that caught his attention was the sash that was pulled over his head at about eye level. _He looks blind_, the worker mused to himself.

"So how do we go about finding," the blind one started. "Them?" he said as he whipped his hair back.

"We split up," the woman answered him.

"Just the four of us?" the original figure said, turning back from the edge to face his mysterious comrades. The maintenance man quickly ducked behind the vents to avoid being seen.

"I know somebody in this area," the woman answered, oblivious that they were being spied on. "Somebody I met once and he owes me a favor. He will help us track them."

"Who?"

"Cloud Strife," she replied monotonously.

"When did you meet Cloud?" the blind figure asked, pulling his hood up in an effort to shield himself from the driving rain.

"When I was looking for you two," she started. "And when me and you were separated," she continued, turning her attention to the black clothed figure kneeling in the back.

"How much time do we have?" he asked her, apparently aware of this information.

"Two weeks," she replied.

"And if they're not here?" the blind figure asked turning his head slightly.

"We meet King Mickey in three days and go to another world and search there."

"What if we can't find them?" one of the figures asked, pulling forth his weapon, called the keyblade and hiking it on his shoulder. The blade shimmered in the city's neon lights as drops of rainwater broke upon its metal edge.

"Then we try either Spira or Destiny Islands," she answered, pulling for her weapons as well. She unveiled a long, slender sword from beneath her black cloak and a long steel dagger in the other hand.

"Before and after," the blind one said with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Right," she answered. "And remember," she said, with sincerity in her shrouded eyes. "This is a one-shot deal. There is no going back, and failure is not an option. We all know what happens if we can't stop them from breaking into the Seal of Ruin."

Three figures nodded their heads in approval, obviously knowing the consequences of a failed mission.

"Let's go," one figure started, unsheathing his dual keyblades and whipping them in the air ceremoniously. "We meet back here in three days. Good luck."

Chuck then stared in disbelief as he watched the figure turned and casually stepped off the building's edge and plummeted out of view.

"He loves doing that," the figure holding the solitary keyblade said, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Did he jump off a building again?" the blind warrior asked, acting completely oblivious to the disappearance of his comrade.

"Yes," the woman answered, adjusting the hood to her black cloak. "Let's find a safer way down."

"He's going to have to show me how to do that someday."

-----

Day Two

Kairi plopped down on the beach and let the cooling breeze of the ocean air envelope her as she tried to clear her head. She sat her books off to the side and stretched out on the sand, not really caring if the yellow coarse material would get in her clothes or on her skin. She kicked off her sandals and closed her eyes as she lay flat on the beach, pretending she was very far away.

She wanted to be in Traverse Town, talking excitedly about other worlds with Cid.

She wanted to be in Never Never Land, flying with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

She wanted to be with Sora, wherever he was.

Kairi loved Destiny Islands, but at the same time she loathed it. She hated the fact that this island was destroyed, and made whole again when Ansem was defeated. She hated the fact that when this world spontaneously reappeared and all of her friends and family were made undead again, and she was the only one to remember what had really happened because she was off in another world.

Kairi was away, catching a ride with Riku and Sora at the breaking of this world. When everything was made whole again, it was rendered as if nothing had happened to begin with. Her school was sill there, complete with all of the students and teachers who had no memory of darkness destroying this world. Her family was there, completely whole, and were worried sick when Kairi came home two weeks later.

According to the people of this island, Sora, Riku, and Kairi disappeared on the same fateful night that the big storm hit. Their rowboats were found on the farthest outward island, with the teenagers completely missing. Only Kairi had made it back alive. She was obviously not herself, as she kept asking questions like "How did this world come back," and "What happened to that mysterious door," and "What was it like being dead?"

One of her friends from school had found her, unconscious, in the secret area next to what was once a door that only Kairi now remembers.

In the end, she had to make up lies. "The last thing I remember," she had told them, "was going back into that cave with Sora and Riku. I must have fell and bumped my head," she had said, hating herself and the way she felt for lying. Somehow that strayed any more questions and made her own questions more reasonable, as she was clearly "not herself," as the villagers had said. For a while, everyone had thought that she was indeed crazy.

Since her return, it has been a rough two years for Kairi. At times she even doubted herself what was the "Truth." She remembers clearly waking up to being one of the "Seven Princesses of Heart." She remembers Ansem, and his subsequent defeat. She remembers Donald and Goofy helping Sora to close the door to the darkness with Riku and King Mickey Mouse still trapped inside. She remembers going to other worlds in the two weeks after everything had been miraculously put back in its place. She remembers a happy ending for everyone.

Everyone except herself.

How do you fit in with people who have no memory of these things? How do you coincide with people who have never been off this island, much less off gallivanting across other worlds in a gummy ship? In her heart, Kairi knows what the truth is. In her heart, she also misses Sora.

It's kind of funny to her. She has a few friends these days, although not very many that she holds dear. It's kind of hard to hold close friends when you've been through and seen more than anyone your age can comprehend. So many "important" things that her friends talk about completely bore Kairi and slightly get on her nerves. Not surprisingly, she also has a few boys who show interest in her. What is she supposed to say to them?

"No thank you, I'm waiting for Sora to come back from the World of Darkness with Goofy and Donald, who is really a talking duck who walks around with no pants on! And they will be coming in a 'Gummy Ship' that can travel across worlds."

That would be called the most creative rejection in Destiny High School history.

However it wouldn't be creative; it would be true.

That is, of course, if she did indeed feel that way about Sora. That is another issue she has internally battled with since her return two years ago. Kairi felt that Sora was nice, courageous, and pretty much the savior of the world. But he was something more to her, something that she had never really felt before. Sora meant a lot to many people but he meant even more to Kairi. At times, she felt as if she could open her eyes and he would be standing before her, only when she did, there would be nothing and she would be bitterly disappointed. In all honesty, the way she felt about Sora frightened her a little bit.

Suddenly the feel of cool waves trickled on her bare feet and snapped Kairi back to reality.

She opened her eyes to find that the tide had risen, and that she had laid here on the beach for quite some time now.

She slowly rose up to a sitting position, and rubbed her blue eyes as she adjusted to the light. She heard a shuffling to her right and she turned her head that way.

Kairi's pulse quickened and her reflexes shocked across her body as she saw something familiar in her still blurry eyes. Hope shot through her system as she imagined that Sora was casually walking up the sandy beach towards her. She quickly rubbed them more to focus clearly and looked back to the figure approaching her.

Kairi sighed as she gave a look of disappointment to the person walking her way. She had, for a brief moment, thought it was her brown headed friend. True, the figure walking her way was about the same height and build as Sora was the last time they had seen each other. The person walking her way even had a similar hairstyle.

Except his was blonde.

"Hey," the boy said while throwing up his hand.

"Hi," she replied, looking downward, hoping to hide the expression of dejection in her eyes. His name was Incanus, and he was the new guy who just moved to the island a week ago. Already he was quickly making friends and seemed to be the object of many girls' affections. Kairi, however, was not too impressed. There were parts of him that she was attracted to, but most of those were parts in him that reminded her of Sora.

"I'm Incanus," he said, introducing himself.

"I know," she replied, still not looking at him. "I'm,"

"Kairi, right?" he said, cutting her off.

"Yeah," said, glancing to him.

"Can I sit down?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied.

He plopped down next to her and leaned back a bit, sharing her view of the ocean. "I've always liked the beach," he said, albeit lamely. "I've always wanted to move out here."

That was an opportune place for Kairi to respond with "_Where are you from?"_ or "_Why did you move here?"_ except only she said nothing. Maybe because she didn't care.

After a few seconds of uneasy silence, Incanus spoke again. "I heard you're crazy," he said with a small smile on his face.

Kairi's cheeks flushed as she opened her mouth to ask him a barrage of questions, mostly pertaining to who would say that and where he left his manners before he moved to the island. However, a sudden and loud splash from nearby in the sea cut her off, and also sent a spray of water that covered her and Incanus both. She quickly turned her gaze to the ocean as a bulky figure of a man appeared out of the waves, gasping for breath.

Incanus, however, looked up to the sky to see where this mysterious man came from. All he saw was clear blue sky and sea gulls.

"Ahhh," the large figure said, giving a deep and obviously manly groan.

"Are you alright?" Kairi hesitantly asked when he floated a few feet towards the beach.

"Blast it," he said stepping out onto the sand while shaking off the seawater. Kairi and Incanus retreated back a step. "I never could swim!"

Kairi gaped at the man before her. He was clad in some strange metal from head to toe that glistened brightly in the afternoon sun. He had a stern, yet still compassionate look to his face, which was the only part of skin that was showing beneath what appeared to be armor.

"Why yes, young girl," he said while bowing down in a courteous manner. "Thank you for your concern. I am physically alright, I just do not know where I am."

"Who are you?" Incanus asked still extremely suspicious of the man who seemingly fell from thin air.

With that the man straightened his back and gave a very formal salute. "I am Captain Adelbert Steiner of the Pluto Knights of Alexandria."

There was a brief silence as Steiner released his salute.

"The what knights of where?" the boy asked, swiping a strand of blonde hair out of his face.

"The Pluto Knights of Alexandria," he answered. "Surely you have heard of Alexandria and it's fine Queen and Princess haven't you?"

"Can't say that I have," the boy replied. "So did you just fall out of the sky?"

"It seems so," Steiner replied. "I was on an Airship and it was attacked by a Black Waltz. Me and the Princess…" he tapered off, as a change of realization shadowed his face like a passing cloud.

"Princess!" he said jumping up and down, his armor rattling heavily. "I have to get back to the Princess! She is alone with Master Vivi and that scoundrel Zidane. Why if this is all of his doing I will have his head!"

"Easy there big fella," Incanus started, turning back to Kairi. "So what are we gonna do about him?" he asked sticking his thumb in the man's general direction.

Kairi had a look of awe and shock on her face and Incanus' words didn't register. She just stood there gaping at the man before her as thoughts started racing through her mind. Suddenly she came to a realization that made her shocked face turn into a gentle smile.

"You're from another world!"

Somewhere, deep within her soul and heart, Kairi found hope in this man.

---------

Author's notes

1-Square-Enix owns it all

2-This is kind of an experiment. I don't know if I'm going to fallow up to this. I guess I will have to see what reviews the story gets and then decide if I'm going to continue. I've already got enough projects and stories to work on as it is!

3-This is a story based upon my theory surrounding the screenshots and hype of KH2. I would tell you what I think of it, but that would spoil this story just a bit. The only things I can tell you about my theory are that the "four figures" I referred to in the beginning, are definitely the Unknowns in Deep Dive. Incanus is a name I referred to the blonde-haired-guy in the movies and screenshots. He's not Sora and he's not in the original game. And he really is not a key player in this story, just a quick reference to the trailer, however Steiner and Kairi are. But that's about all I can tell you of my theory without spoiling this story.

4-Whereas KH went through the Disney worlds and saw many familiar faces there, I'm taking these characters and plunging them into Final Fantasy worlds. If I do decide to continue with this idea, the plot will be an intriguing twist going in and out of places like World of Ruin, Balaam, and Spira (pre-FFX-2, as that story was already colluded and odd as it is anyway!)

5-This, however presents a big problem! Any Final Fantasy player can tell you that Yuffie, Squall, Aerith, Tidus, Selphie, etc, are all wrong! It's cool that they're in KH and all, but if you see them in this story (which I doubt you will) think the ORIGINAL characters, not Tidus and Wakka as the age of ten, nor Aerith being from Hallow Bastion. We all know she is an Ancient in the FFVII world and Sephiroth killed her.

6-The continuation of this story will depend on what you guys think. Tell me if I should continue or not, and this might be a running project for me! Thanks for reading this far.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Kairi sat down on the foot of the wooden stairwell near the back of the large parlor room. She had her knees pulled up to her chin as she had for the past hour. As she tried to listen to the conversation that was going on in the room, she found her thoughts kept drifting off and wandering on their own. More often than not, her feelings were wandering to Sora, and to the new man who had seemingly fell out of thin air.

Not knowing what to do, Kairi and Incanus had taken Steiner directly to the Mayor's house. Within thirty minutes they were shortly accompanied by a few other Island adults, those of which included Kairi's dad. Once the "meeting" was about to begin, Kairi was instructed to go home. However, she proved very adamant about staying.

"Fine," Kairi's dad had said, giving in, knowing how stubborn his daughter could be at times. "Just sit back in the back and don't say anything."

And that's exactly what she had done. Steiner had given an account to what happened to him. The story covered strange places and powerful magic and culminated with his battle with a Black Waltz on an Airship, which concluded with his fall from the sky. Kairi could tell that the adults were obviously not buying it.

_Why should they?_ she thought, resting her chin on her knees. _They don't know the truth. They don't know that there are other worlds out there_. A few times when the Mayor was asking Steiner some particularly harsh questions she found herself biting her tongue. She wanted to stand up, tell all of the adults how close-minded and stupid they were, and that she believed every word Steiner said.

That, however was not an option. If she did that she would start to get those piercing looks from people again, like she did after her adventure with Sora and Riku. There would be whisperings when she would pass by a group of people. "There's the crazy girl," they would say.

It wouldn't surprise her if they locked Steiner up, proclaimed him crazy, and he would never get to see his "Princess" or "fine city of Alexandria" ever again. The adults had never heard of Alexandria, or any city that still had queens and princesses. They were giving Steiner that same look now that she had often got two years ago. Kairi felt pity for him.

In her heart, Kairi knew that somehow, this man came from another world. That had given her more hope than she has had in the past two years. If somehow she could find out how he got here, then maybe…

"We'll I think we cannot get any further tonight," the gruff voice of the mayor said, obviously still frustrated with the whole situation. "There's an extra room at the inn. You can stay there Steiner and we will have another meeting tomorrow morning. Just make sure you don't go anywhere and you keep that sword out of sight. We should confiscate that, but we're not going to. Do NOT cause any trouble," he said, looking Steiner square in the eyes, emphasizing his point.

"Yes sir," Steiner said, standing upright. "Your generosity is duly noted and appreciated. Do not fret, I will not do anything rash nor will I run away at first chance."

"Thanks," the Mayor said idly, still a bit disheveled over the whole mess. "You can go now," he started. "Slash can show you the way," he said, pointing a finger to a man in the corner.

"Thanks again," Steiner said, bowing a bit to show his appreciation. "I bid you good night and will take my leave in peace."

As soon as the two men had left the house a buzz on conversation began, with the majority of the comments coming from Kairi's father.

"Do you think that's wise?" he said, looking at the Mayor. "He's obviously crazy! And armed still! Do you not care about the citizens' well being? Lock him up!" he demanded of the mayor. "Now!"

"Dad," Kairi yelled jumping up from her seated position. Her emotion and frustration at the adults had finally taken charge. "How do you know?" she pleaded. "Give him a chance!"

"Kairi!" he scolded, turning his attention to his daughter. "I told you to keep quiet. This is none of your concern. Besides, I've never heard of Alexandria or crazy things called Airships. He's not right in the head," he continued. "And I think…"

"You want to know what I think?" Kairi interjected, flustered and too angry to care of the consequences. "I think just because we haven't heard of this place doesn't mean that it doesn't exist! We should give him a chance!" she implored. A strong silence followed her outburst. Kairi's dad then slowly turned to her.

"Go home Kairi," her dad said.

"But listen," she started, not done making her point.

"I've heard enough," he said sharply. "Go home. We'll talk later."

Kairi's face was flushed with anger and disappointment. She knew that her outburst would solve nothing, but that still didn't stop her. She had half a mind to say that little did they know that she has been to other worlds and seen many strange places and even flown in one of these 'crazy airships.'

But that would also get her nowhere. So she swallowed hard and looked down, trying to hold back the tears of dejection. Without a word, she turned on a heel and ran out of the room and out of the front door leading into the street.

_I won't cry, I won't cry_ she told herself as she walked quickly down the sandy path to her home. _I won't cry I won't…_

Suddenly a flash of light from out at sea caught her attention. She stopped and looked eastwards as a strong ocean breeze caught her red hair and pulled it back. A bolt of lightning touched down somewhere out in the ocean. _A storm is coming_, she absently thought. By the look of the clouds and the electric feel of the air, it was going to be a huge tempest. Kairi momentarily forgot about Steiner and her dad as she took a tentative step towards the beach. She always thought that there was something mystical about storms: the way the lightning etched across the sky and the way the wind stopped right before the rain hit seemed almost supernatural.

A single raindrop splashed across her cheek. She touched it with her fingers. It felt cold.

Another icy drop fell on her shoulder.

Kairi started walking again, this time even quicker as she wanted to make it home before the rain hit.

As soon as she walked in her door she felt exhaustion overtake her. Her house was empty and dark as the storm was now on the doorstep of the island and night was coming very soon. The atmosphere of her house seemed a bit eerie to her, but the emotional torment that fatigued her now seemed to prevail. She made a line for the bed to lie down, falling asleep almost instantly.

--------------

Later that night…

Incanus tossed in his bed.

He too had fallen asleep about the same time as Kairi had. The blonde-haired kid was now sleeping fitfully as he experienced dreams of darkness, shadows, and memories. In his mind, he was free falling in a never-ending pit. He couldn't see his surroundings, as the tunnel was pitch black. However, worse than that, he could feel the presence of something very close, hidden by the darkness. There was something beside him as he fell. It was large, cold, and very evil. Incanus could almost see the creature smiling at him, in a wicked and frightful way.

Suddenly thunder crashed and Incanus jumped upright in his bed, now completely awake. His sheets and clothes were drenched in sweat from his nightmare and he felt cold and clammy all over.

"Damn," he said softly, rising up in bed and pressing his fingers to his temples. "It was just a dream Incanus," he said to himself. His attempt at relaxing himself was not very convincing. Lightning flickered and he thought he saw something move at the foot of his bed. The shadows in his room were now playing tricks on his mind. He jumped and flicked on his lamp and the shadows crept back into the darkness.

"It was just a dream," he repeated, his pulse still beating rapidly.

Lightning flickered again outside and he glanced to his clock. It read 4:37 am. The storm was still raging even though there was no sound of rain outside. Obviously giving up on the idea of sleep anytime soon, Incanus put his shirt on and went to his window to peer out to the town.

There was something magical about this storm. Something captivated him as he stood staring out and watching the lightning flicker across the sky. His eyes focused as another stream of light came from the sky. This, however, was moving much too slow to be lighting. _A meteor_, he mused, _in a thunderstorm_. Somehow that intrigued him and he felt as if he should go outside. It almost seemed as if something was calling to him.

For no apparent reason, Incanus stepped out of his bedroom and out the front door. The sand beneath his feet stuck to his sandals as it was still wet by the night's pouring rain. Even though it had quit raining by now, the thunder and lightning told him that the storm was still very close. For some reason he turned left on the sandy path towards the beachhead.

An unusually cold gust of wind cut through his shirt and he wrapped his arms around himself to keep warm.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked himself, half expecting an answer. He had half a notion to turn back before it started raining again. A nice cold rain would really send a chill down his spine. He was about ready to stop and turn around when movement caught his eye. As he stood, focusing his eyes out into the distance, he came to a realization.

There was a figure at the end of the pier.

Incanus hurriedly walked out onto the beach. Lightning flickered and Incanus made out the features of the person. It was Kairi.

Another cold breeze came and lifted the young woman's hair behind her head. She stood staring out into the black ocean as another bolt of lightning came down and hit somewhere in the sea. She was standing almost on the very tip of the pier, scanning the horizon. To Incanus, it looked as if she was looking for something. She also seemed to be waiting.

"Kairi?" he said hesitantly as he stepped onto the dock.

"You shouldn't be here," she said in a low voice. "I think it's going to get dangerous soon."

"What are you talking about?" Incanus asked.

"I think the darkness is going to come again," she said. "This time I'm ready for it."

"You really are crazy," Incanus said, staring at the girl in front of him in disbelief.

Kairi sighed and dropped her gaze to the rippling waves beneath her. That was the first time anyone had ever said that directly to her face and really meant it. She wanted to both turn around and smack the boy behind her or to hang her head and cry. A few seconds later, a single tear streamed down her cheek.

"Go home," she said in a strained voice. "Go back to bed."

"Listen," he started. "I didn't mean to…"

"Maybe when you wake up tomorrow morning the world will be destroyed and rebuilt again," she said cutting him off. "And you just won't know it. But don't look for me," she said. "I'm not coming back. Not this time."

Incanus stared at the girl before her as he crossed his arms. _Wow_, he thought, _she really has lost it. _

"Fine," he said, turning around and taking a few step back home. Already he had felt better about the situation. He really did belong in his bed, before his mother woke up to find him gone. She would start to worry. Every step he took on the wooden pier put him a little bit more at ease.

Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks, as he looked downward to a strange creature that appeared in front of him. Due to its black color and weird shape, he almost missed it completely. That is, if it weren't for the two glowing yellow eyes.

It seemed almost harmless. There was no real sense of foreboding or danger from this creature. Incanus stared into the two yellow orbs of its eyes, obviously mesmerized by it. Incanus jumped in surprise, as another one appeared, seemingly spawning out of the wooden pier itself.

"Woah," he yelled, backing up a few paces. He stared in amazement as two more spawned up behind them. "Kairi!" he yelled.

"Heartless," she said, turning back to the ocean. "Very dangerous creatures of darkness. You've missed your chance to go back," she said almost morbidly.

"Dangerous?" Incanus asked. "How dangerous?"

Suddenly the closest creature lashed out and clawed the boy's ankle. He screamed in pain as he fell backwards trying to scramble out of the way.

"Too dangerous," Kairi said, still peering out into the night and pitch black sea. "Come on Sora," she muttered under her breath. "Please hurry."

"What are you talking about?" Incanus said frantically, as he watched more and more creatures appear and walk his way. "We're trapped!" he exclaimed as he had reached the very end of the pier.

Kairi let out a small sigh as she dropped her head. "Nothing," she replied. "I just hoped that someone would come to save us, that's all." She turned back to face the small army of heartless that was now pursuing them.

"Can't we kill them?" Incanus asked, not knowing if he wanted the answer to that question.

"No," she said softly. "We're unarmed."

"So we're going to die?" Incanus asked.

Now Kairi couldn't control the stream of tears that was building up in her eyes. Drops of sadness were now seeping out one by one, trickling down and falling between the cracks of the pier, mingling with the dark seawater below.

Somewhere close by, and pair of thick hands grasped the hilt of a sword. A pair of iron boots shuffled in the wet sand. The sound of metal armor clanging together could be heard.

"I will save you two!" a voice boomed out to the edge of the pier.

Kairi turned in time to see Captain Adelbert Steiner of the Pluto Knights of Alexandria emerge from the shadows with his sword held high. He ran fast in an attempt to charge the heartless.

He…tripped on his own two feet and sprawled out across the sand.

"Argh," he grumbled as he spat sand out of his mouth. "Let's try this again."

By the time he retrieved his sword and got on his feet the first of many heartless were upon him. He swung his sword and cleaved a dark creature in two, sending it back to the void where it belonged.

Kairi watched in awe as Steiner dispatched foe after foe. Any qualms that she had about him being from another world were quieted as she watched him fight. He seemed to be fluid and it appeared as if fighting was natural to the knight as he continued to dwindle the enemy numbers.

Suddenly, a few of the heartless that were taken by surprise by Steiner's attack were now refocused on Kairi and Incanus. Kairi watched in dread as the lanky creatures stepped towards the hapless pair.

"Kairi?" Incanus asked in a fear-drenched voice.

It was then that a thunderous roaring noise from behind them startled Kairi and a small scream escaped her lips. Kairi and Incanus quickly turned their view to the sky as three large lights shone down on them. The heartless hastily scampered away, some plunging into the sea beneath them to escape the bright lights.

The lights above them shifted and moved to the side and Incanus could make out that the lights were apart of something bigger directly above them. As it continued to move it descended a few feet and seemed to suspend in midair precisely in front of them. To Incanus, it looked almost like a small sea freighter, but it was floating magically in the air. His blood froze in his veins.

Kairi watched intently as an opening appeared on side of the ship, emitting a bright light. Suddenly a silhouette of a figure stepped into the edge. _Sora_, she thought desperately as her pulse quickened.

The voice from the airship spoke.

"You just gonna stand there and let them dark sonsabitches getcha or are you gonna jump aboard?"

"Cid!" Kairi exclaimed, jumping in excitement as she watched the scruffy-looking blonde pilot light up a cigarette.

"The one and the only!" he exclaimed with a little bow. "Now get your scrawny ass in here!" he said, beckoning with his hands.

"He's a friend," Kairi explained to Incanus. The young kid was staring with his jaw unhinged at the unworldly ship before him. "Steiner," Kairi looked to the knight who was analyzing the ship carefully.

"Yes madam?" he replied.

"Behind you!" she screamed seeing a huge shadowy figure emerge from the darkness behind the knight.

"It's a Darkside!" Cid yelled. "Ya better get your ass in here!" he said.

Kairi jumped into the cabin of the ship with Incanus directly behind her. She could hear the clanging metal of Steiner as he was running frantically away from the large ominous figure that was closing on the ship.

"He better run fast cuz I'm getting the hell outta here," Cid grumbled, slipping into the captain's chair. Kairi grabbed the side of the ship as she looked eagerly outside onto the pier. Steiner heaved himself at the end of the dock and came crashing down inside the ship.

"We're gone!" Cid yelled as he launched the ship forward. Kairi felt her stomach churn fitfully as the ship yawed. She glanced over to Incanus, who was making a retching noise in the corner of the ship.

"Thank you for your timely rescue," Steiner said, slowly getting on his feet as the doors closed behind him. "I believe you saved my life, as well as the lives of these two young teenagers. I am Captain Adelbert Stiener of the…"

"Ya better save it Ironsides," Cid said, pressing an array of buttons. "And you better sit yourself down, we're going to jump into another world in about thirty seconds.

"Another world?" Incanus said, wiping the corners of his mouth.

"Ya done pukin'?" Cid asked the teenager.

Incanus looked down and blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Yeah," he slowly replied. "I'm sorry about that."

"When we reach Midgar you can clean it up," Cid replied.

"Midgar?" Kairi asked, easing herself down in the copilot's chair beside Cid. "Why are we going to Midgar?"

"Cuz your boyfriend's there!" Cid replied rather bluntly. This time it was Kairi's time to blush.

"Sora," she whispered underneath her breath. Cid just laughed at her.

"Take a look at that!" Cid said, pointing out of the cockpit window. Kairi's eyes followed his finger until she saw a shooting star.

"A meteor," she said softly. "So this world is falling apart. Why did you come and pick me up? What is happening here?" Kairi asked.

"Now that," he started. "Is gonna take some explaining. But you better get strapped in, Cuz we're getting ready to make our jump." She did as she was told and strapped her belt across her chest. "You two numbskulls better do the same," he said, talking to the two guys in the back.

"Here we go!" Cid said enthusiastically. The ship then lurched upwards at an amazing rate. Just when Kairi thought she could take it no more she noticed a few glistening lights in the distance. She sat frozen, mesmerized by them. The closer they got the brighter the lights became until she realized that the cluster of lights were revealing the portal that Cid was opening up. That was their ticket to another world.

Somewhere in the back of the cabin Incanus puked again.

--------

Author's notes

1-Yeah, I've decided to go ahead with this one. Thanks for the support people. SG, you were right and I've made the changes to Steiner's first name. I don't know why the hell I thought it was Albert for…

2-SqaureEnix owns it all.

3-Just a couple of things to clarify if you missed it the first time: To fully understand this you should go check out the videos Deep Dive, Another Story, and the teaser for KH2. Most of that can be found at They play heavily into this, so much so that I've designed a main character (Incanus) off of them. In the videos, there is a blonde-haired kid who "plays a pivotal role" in KH2, according to the gurus over at SquareEnix.

4-Thanks again to Shad for beta-ing my stuff. I don't know what I'd do without you kid!


End file.
